R.C. Sproul's Blog, page 547

100th Anniversary of Francis Schaeffer's Birth

Francis August Schaeffer was born January 30, 1912, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He became a Christian at age 18 and faithfully served the Lord until he went to glory on May 15, 1984. In God's grace, his life and service was—and continues to be—mightily used of the Lord.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of Schaeffer's birth.

Schaeffer & Ligonier

Not everyone is aware how even today Schaeffer's ministry echos in much of our work and that it was significantly formative in Dr. Sproul's original vision for Ligonier. Burk Parsons writes:

"During his ministerial tenure, R.C. began to speak at churches and conferences throughout the Midwest, and after two years at the church, he received the call to begin a study center near Pittsburgh. The idea was to provide a Christian study center modeled after Francis Schaeffer’s European study center, L’Abri. After speaking with Dr. Schaeffer on a couple of occasions, and after much thought and prayer, R.C. and his family relocated to the mountains of western Pennsylvania where Mrs. Dora Hillman had purchased fifty-three acres and constructed a building on the property. In 1971, they moved from the bustling city of Cincinnati to the quiet countryside of Ligonier. There they established the Ligonier Valley Study Center, and for thirteen years students came from around the country to study Scripture, theology, philosophy, apologetics, and church history. The students studied, slept, and ate in the Sproul’s home and in the homes of others in the study center community."

In this letter, R.C. Sproul Jr. shares his memories of meeting Francis Schaeffer in the early days of the Ligonier Valley Study Center.

What was Francis Schaeffer's biggest concern for the church in America?

Dr. Sproul recalls the following conversation with Schaeffer:

About thirty years ago, I shared a taxi cab in St. Louis with Francis Schaeffer. I had known Dr. Schaeffer for many years, and he had been instrumental in helping us begin our ministry in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, in 1971. Since our time together in St. Louis was during the twilight of Schaeffer’s career, I posed this question to him: “Dr. Schaeffer, what is your biggest concern for the future of the church in America?” Without hesitation, Dr. Schaeffer turned to me and spoke one word: “Statism.” Schaeffer’s biggest concern at that point in his life was that the citizens of the United States were beginning to invest their country with supreme authority, such that the free nation of America would become one that would be dominated by a philosophy of the supremacy of the state.

Schaeffer's Published Works

The God Who Is There
Escape from Reason
Death in the City
Pollution and the Death of Man
The Church at the End of the 20th Century
The Mark of the Christian
The Church Before the Watching World
True Spirituality
He Is There and He Is Not Silent
Basic Bible Studies
Genesis in Space and Time
The New Super-Spirituality
Back to Freedom and Dignity
Art and the Bible
Everybody Can Know
No Little People
Two Contents, Two Realities
Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History
No Final Conflict
How Should We Then Live?
Whatever Happened to the Human Race?
A Christian Manifesto
The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer
The Great Evangelical Disaster
Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer

For more information on Francis Schaeffer, please see the PCA Historical Center.

Twitter Highlights (1/29/12)

Here are highlights from the various Ligonier Twitter accounts over the past week.

A sermon is not made with an eye upon the sermon, but with both eyes upon the people and all the heart upon God (Owen).

— Ligonier Academy (@LigonierAcademy) January 24, 2012

When the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it (Martyn Lloyd-Jones).

— Tabletalk Magazine (@Tabletalk) January 24, 2012

Reformed Theology knows nothing of different testing periods or different redemptive agendas for Israel and the church. -Dr. R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Connect (@LigonierConnect) January 23, 2012

Prayer prompts and nurtures obedience, putting the heart into the proper "frame of mind" to desire obedience. —R.C. Sproul

— Reformation Trust (@RefTrust) January 24, 2012

If God based His election of sinners upon something good in the person, none would be saved because none is good. —Steven Lawson

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) January 25, 2012

Oh, my brethren! bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards (Spurgeon).

— Ligonier Academy (@LigonierAcademy) January 25, 2012

The closer we are to God, the more the slightest sin will cause us deep sorrow. —R.C. Sproul

— Ligonier Ministries (@Ligonier) January 26, 2012

You can also find our various ministries on Facebook:

Ligonier Ministries | Ligonier Academy | Ligonier Connect
Reformation Bible College | Reformation Trust | Tabletalk Magazine

Introductions: The Gospels

Four weeks ago we launched a new series on the blog, "Introductions." Adapting material from The Reformation Study Bible, we began by introducing you to each of the four Gospels.

The Reformation Study Bible reminds us:

"It has long been noticed that the Gospels are not ordinary biographies. Two of them say nothing about Jesus' birth, and only one event from His youth is recorded (Luke 2:41-52). Unlike what one would expect from a biography, a large portion of each Gospel is devoted to the last week of Jesus' ministry... Clearly, these books were not written to satisfy our curiosity but to proclaim a message."

If you haven't already, please allow The Reformation Study Bible to introduce you to...

The Gospel According to Matthew
The Gospel According to Mark
The Gospel According to Luke
The Gospel According to John

Stay tuned to the blog as we'll be continuing the "Introductions" series, this time considering the five books of the Pentateuch.

Forty Days of Mourning

My deepest gratitude to all of you who have walked with me through my grief. Your prayers and encouragement have buoyed me up in the long and dark hours. It is possible that the below will be my last piece committed to this difficult journey. Rest assured, however, that the deep wound will not fully heal on this side of glory, and even then my scar, like His, and yours, will beautify eternity.

Because we are modernists and Gnostics we love to pretend that symbols and rituals have no meaning, that all that matters is what is in our hearts. Because we are humans, and image bearers, we find we cannot escape symbols and rituals. When my wife and I were married almost twenty years ago there were precious few surprises. Black tux for me, white dress for her. Traditional hymns were sung, traditional vows were taken. She processed with her father, and recessed with me. And in between, we exchanged rings- simple, traditional, gold rings. The only twist remained within the tradition, inside the ritual. Inside our rings we had inscribed Joshua 24:15- As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Too many pundits tell us that if we want to have a successful marriage we need to make Jesus the center of it. He is the glue, the center, the guide. There is wisdom here, but also danger. Is Jesus a means to a happy marriage? No, He is the end. Jesus does not exist for our marriages. Rather, our marriages exist for Him. Denise and I married not for ourselves, but that we might serve the Lord. We committed from the beginning not that I would die to self for her sake, nor that she would die to self for mine. Instead we would both strive to die to self for Him. We would pursue not our own happiness, but His glory. And in losing our individual lives, we found our one life together.

Jesus did not, forty days ago, take Denise from me. She was never mine to begin with. He placed her under my care. He blessed me with her wisdom, with her example, with her love. But she was then what she is now, and will always be, His.

I too belong to Him. I asked Him to give me forty days to mourn- to devote time, space, energy to entering into my loss. Those forty days have drawn to a close. Crossing this barrier, stepping out of the ash-pile, however, hasn't changed my heart. Indeed despite recognizing the objective wisdom of my friend who suggested that I give myself over to mourning for forty days, I find myself not wanting to let go. I know, as I knew from the beginning that moving past this forty days will not end my sadness. I fear, however foolishly however, that it will end her, that she will pull further away from me. I fear that I would be giving up the ghost, which seems to be all I have left of her. The dust of her death has become my familiar familiar.

The irony is the matching fears. That is, in putting that ring on Denise's finger, in that ritual pregnant with promise and meaning, I was afraid. Could I be the kind of godly husband she deserved? Would I be faithful in leading her? It is the same fear that haunts me now. Will I honor her memory by being the man she helped make? Will I be faithful to her memory, and our pledge? And the mirror of that fear is in the mirror of the ritual. On this, my fortieth day of mourning my beloved, I remove the ring she put on my finger. I cried through putting her ring on, even as I cry in taking mine off.

The ring reminded me not that my life was committed to Denise, but that our lives were committed to the Lord. Its absence, I pray, will remind me still of the message inside. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. God called me to be a husband for almost twenty years. He has called me to be a servant, a soldier, a disciple and a friend for always.. Pray that I would be faithful.

Could Jesus Have Sinned?

The best theologians, past and present, have been divided on the question of whether Jesus could have sinned. I believe that since Jesus was fully human, it was possible for him to sin. Obviously, the divine nature cannot sin. But if Christ's divine nature prevented him from sinning, in what sense did he obey the law of God as the second Adam? At his birth, Jesus' human nature was exactly the same as Adam's before the fall, with respect to his moral capabilities. Jesus had what Augustine called the posse peccare and the posse non peccare, that is, the ability to sin and the ability not to sin. Adam sinned; Jesus did not. Satan did everything in his power to corrupt Jesus and tempt him to sin. That would have been an exercise in futility had he been trying to tempt a divine person to sin. Satan was not trying to get God to sin. He was trying to get the human nature of Christ to sin, so that he would not be qualified to be the Savior.

I think it is wrong to believe that Christ’s divine nature made it impossible for his human nature to sin. —R.C. Sproul

At the same time, Christ was uniquely sanctified and ministered to by the Holy Spirit. In order to sin, a person must have a desire for sin. But Jesus' human nature throughout his life was marked by a zeal for righteousness. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me" (John 4:34), he said. As long as Jesus had no desire to sin, he would not sin. I may be wrong, but I think it is wrong to believe that Christ's divine nature made it impossible for his human nature to sin. If that were the case, the temptation, the tests, and his assuming of the responsibility of the first Adam would have all been charades. This position protects the integrity of the authenticity of the human nature because it was the human nature that carried out the mission of the second Adam on our behalf. It was the human nature uniquely anointed beyond measure by the Holy Spirit.

Excerpt from R.C. Sproul's, Truths We Confess: A Layman's Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith (Volume 1)

$5 Friday: Abortion, Islam, & Calvinism

This week you'll find $5 Friday resources on Islam, ethics, providence, abortion, masculinity, the cross, and Calvinism.

Sale runs from 8 a.m. Friday through 8 a.m. Saturday EST.

View today's $5 Friday sale items.

One or Two?

An ideology is taking over the West that is both very spiritual and self-consciously anti-Christian. It intends, ever so subtly, without ever saying so explicitly, to grind the gospel into the dustbin of history. The 1960s was an incredibly formative decade. In 1962, Mircea Eliade, the world expert on comparative religions, observed: "Western thought [he meant Christendom] can no longer maintain itself in this splendid isolation from a confrontation with the 'unknown,' the 'outsiders.'" As if on cue, the "Fab Four" met the Maharishi and introduced the "wisdom of the East" to popular Western culture. In the same decade, the "Death of God" theology arose, which turned out not to be the final triumph of secular humanism over the God of the Bible but instead the arrival of "the new polytheism" in the rebirth of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome. Bob Dylan sang, "The Times They Are A'Changin," and we heard for the first time of the "dawning of the Age of Aquarius," an age of pagan utopian spirituality.

An ideology is taking over the West that is both very spiritual and self-consciously anti-Christian. —Peter Jones

This was the age when many became aware of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism through the discovery of ancient Gnostic texts and the psychological theories of the modern, very spiritual Gnostic Carl Jung, who called Christian orthodoxy "systematic blindness." Jung followed the ancient Gnostic god Abraxas, half man, half beast, as a deity higher than both the Christian God and the Devil. His secular biographer recently stated that Jung, like the Roman Emperor Julian in the fourth century AD, succeeded in turning the Western world back to paganism.

Continue reading One or Two?, Peter Jones' contribution to the January issue of Tabletalk.

Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) — Summer 2012

The Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) degree program emphasizes the application of theology and the means of grace to ministry. This program is for men who desire a deep knowledge of and greater competence in the practice of ministry and consists of eight required courses and a major written project. Each course is a one-week module focusing on a topic in theology or the practice of ministry.

Summer 2012

This coming July, Dr. Robert Letham, author of a new book on the doctrine of union with Christ and author of an award winning textbook on the doctrine of the Trinity, will be joining us to teach the Issues in Theological Studies class on the topic: "The Trinity and Christian Worship."

Dr. Mark Ross, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Columbia campus of Erskine Theological Seminary and Director of the Institute for Reformed Worship, will be returning to teach our class on Pastoral Care.

In January 2013, Dr. Sam Larsen will be joining us to teach a class on Missions and Evangelism, and Dr. T.D. Alexander will be joining us to teach our Issues in Biblical Studies course on the topic: Theological Trajectories from Eden to Sinai and Beyond.

We are profoundly thankful to all of these men for their willingness to serve pastors in this way. We are also grateful for the pastors who have been working through this demanding program.

Testimonial

One of these men, Pastor Drew Dinardo has said of the program:

"I cannot conceive of a better institution to continue biblical, theological, and pastoral education than Ligonier Academy (DMin). I have found the course selection ideal, the professors exceptional, class reading and instruction insightful, and the interaction with other like-minded pastors edifying. The spiritual and intellectual benefits to me personally, as well as to the congregation that I serve, have been incalculable. If you are searching for a degree program that is biblically and theologically grounded, intellectually demanding, ministry focused, philosophically practical, and pastor-schedule sensitive, look no further."

If you are a Pastor seeking further training from a Reformed perspective, then Ligonier Academy's DMin program is for you.

The application deadline for those desiring to begin coursework this coming summer is March 1.

For more detailed information on the program you can review our newly completed Doctor of Ministry handbook or contact us:

Ligonier Academy Admissions Office

465 Ligonier Court
 Sanford, FL 32771

Phone: 888-722-1517
Fax: 407-333-4233
admission@ligonier.org
www.LigonierAcademy.org

Because the DMin program serves the educational goals of pastors, missionaries, and others in full-time ministry, admission is granted only to ordained men who possess a Master of Divinity degree or its equivalent and three years of ministry experience. Exceptions to these admission requirements are considered on a case-by-case basis, and in such cases admission may be granted only on a provisional basis.

Introductions: John

Who wrote it? When was it written and why?

These are some of the important questions to answer as you explore any book of the Bible. To aid you in your study of God's Word we're adapting and posting some of the detailed book introductions found in The Reformation Study Bible.

Today, please allow The Reformation Study Bible to introduce you to...

The Gospel According to John

Author | Date & Occasion | Interpretive Difficulties | Characteristics & Themes

Author

The author of this Gospel was almost certainly a Jew. He displays an intimate knowledge of Jewish customs, festivals, and beliefs. His detailed geographical knowledge suggests that he was a native of Palestine, and it appears that he was an eyewitness of many of the events recorded in his Gospel (John 19:35).

Any careful reader would notice that John is not mentioned by name in the Gospel. It is difficult to explain this omission unless one assumes that the Gospel was written by him.

Although the work is anonymous, it contains some hints about its authorship. This is the only Gospel that refers to one of the apostles with the expression the disciple "whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23) rather than by name. This disciple is the one identified as the eyewitness who "is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things" (John 21:24). Moreover, any careful reader would notice that John, son of Zebedee, who was one of the most prominent disciples, is not mentioned by name in the Gospel. It is difficult to explain this omission unless one assumes that the Gospel was written by John and that he refrained from identifying himself.

Early church tradition, such as the writings of Irenaeus in the second century, consistently and explicitly attributes this Gospel to the apostle John. Modern doubts about the reliability of that tradition have led many scholars to reject John's authorship of the book, but no other view gives as satisfactory an account of the facts.

Date and Occasion

Early church tradition suggests that John wrote the Gospel toward the end of his life, around A.D. 90. Some scholars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, having abandoned authorship by John, argued that the Gospel was as late as the middle of the second century.

"that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" — John

The discoveries of the Rylands papyrus (a manuscript fragment dated to about A.D. 125, containing a few lines from John 18) and of the Dead Sea Scrolls (which improved our understanding of Palestine in the first century) have led most scholars to return to the Gospel's traditional date. Some specialists have gone further and dated it before A.D. 70.

The author himself describes his purpose for writing: "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

Interpretive Difficulties

Great emphasis is placed on the unique significance of Jesus' miracles, but some passages seem to suggest that belief based solely upon seeing signs is not a good thing.

A special challenge to interpreters of John's Gospel is the relation between seeing "signs" and belief. The author places great emphasis on the unique significance of Jesus' miracles because they reveal much about His Person and work (John 20:30, 31). But some passages seem to suggest that belief based solely upon having personally seen the signs is not a good thing. In John 4:48, for instance, Jesus rebukes His hearers, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." This passage brings to mind the statement of Thomas in John 20:25, "Unless I see . . . I will never believe." Therefore, many readers have concluded that an ideal faith has no interest in miracles. The problem with this conclusion is twofold. First, if faith resulting from miracles is not good, why does Jesus perform miracles? Second, why does John link these signs to faith in Christ (John 20:31)?

To believe in Jesus means not only to acknowledge His ability to perform miracles, but also to accept what those miracles as "signs" reveal about His Person and work. The evangelist indicates that the written record of Jesus' signs is sufficient testimony for those who are not eyewitnesses. This understanding is implied by what Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). Paul's formulation gives a similar relation between faith and sight: "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7; cf. Rom. 8:24, 25).

Faith can be produced and encouraged by the signs Jesus performed. But the goal of this faith is to apprehend Jesus in His fullness, not merely as a miracle worker. Jesus is revealed by His "signs" as the eternal Word of God, one in glory with the Father and the Spirit. It is not necessary to be an eyewitness of the signs; the record of them is sufficient to convey their power for eliciting and strengthening faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.

Characteristics and Themes

The teachings of Jesus recorded in John tend to be lengthy discussions of a single topic, in contrast to the pithy, proverb-like sayings usually found in the other three Gospels. The teaching material is often embedded in conversations, as Jesus interacts with individual people or groups in discussion. There are almost no parables in this Gospel.

John highlights the reality of sin in various ways, but especially by emphasizing our total dependence on God for salvation

Jesus' interaction with those who did not receive Him although they were "his own" (John 1:11) is an important focus of the public ministry (John 1–12). Jesus appears often in Jerusalem at the time of the Jewish feasts. These feasts have special importance because of the way Jesus relates His own work to what the feasts signify (John 7:37–39). Despite this ministry, His nation did not receive Him, a fact that John explains as the result of human sin. Jesus is rejected, not because He is a stranger, but because people love darkness rather than light.

The Gospel of John makes use of sharp contrasts: light and darkness (John 1:4–9), love and hatred (John 15:17, 18), from above and from below (John 8:23), life and death (John 6:57, 58), truth and falsehood (John 8:32–47). Other distinctive features are the theme of misunderstanding (John 2:21; 6:51–58), the use of twofold or double meanings (John 3:14; 6:62), and the role of the "I am" sayings.

John highlights the reality of sin in various ways, but especially by emphasizing our total dependence on God for salvation. Just as our physical birth was not the result of our own effort or will, so our spiritual birth is not due to us, but to God's will and the power of His Spirit (John 1:12, 13; 3:5–8). Sinful men and women are unable to come to Jesus for salvation unless they are drawn by the Father (John 6:44). But when they come to Jesus, they have "eternal life," and do not "come into judgment" (John 5:24); they belong to the Father, and He will not let them die (John 10:27–29).

One of the most striking distinctives of this Gospel is the Prologue (John 1:1–18) that presents Jesus as the eternal Logos, or Word, the One who reveals the Father. Christ reveals the Father because He shares in the Father's deity. He is the One who made the universe (John 1:3). He met the needs of the Israelites in the wilderness, and now He provides spiritual water and bread (John 4:13, 14; 6:35). In short, He is one with the Father, the "I am" (John 5:18; 8:58; 10:30–33; cf. Ex. 3:14).

Own The Reformation Study Bible and have access to more than 20,000 study notes, 96 theological articles, contributions from 50 evangelical scholars, 19 in-text maps and 12 charts.

Read Sample Chapters
Purchase The Reformation Study Bible

Adapted from The Reformation Study Bible, © 2005 Ligonier Ministries.

A Catechism on the Heart

Sometimes people ask authors, "Which of your books is your favorite?" The first time the question is asked, the response is likely to be "I am not sure; I have never really thought about it." But forced to think about it, my own standard response has become, "I am not sure what my favorite book is; but my favorite title is A Heart for God." I am rarely asked, "Why?" but (in case you ask) the title simply expresses what I want to be: a Christian with a heart for God.

I offer my heart to you, Lord, readily and sincerely. —John Calvin

Perhaps that is in part a reflection of the fact that we sit on the shoulders of the giants of the past. Think of John Calvin's seal and motto: a heart held out in the palm of a hand and the words "I offer my heart to you, Lord, readily and sincerely." Or consider Charles Wesley's hymn:

O for a heart to praise my God!
A heart from sin set free.

Some hymnbooks don't include Wesley's hymn, presumably in part because it is read as an expression of his doctrine of perfect love and entire sanctification. (He thought it possible to have his longing fulfilled in this world.) But the sentiment itself is surely biblical.

Continue reading A Catechism on the Heart, Sinclair Ferguson's contribution to the January issue of Tabletalk.